Anderson polishes off India as he closes on McGrath mark

NOTTINGHAM: James Anderson polished off India’s first innings to move closer to Glenn McGrath’s record for the most Test wickets by a pace bowler before England’s openers rode their luck at Trent Bridge on Sunday.

England were 46 without loss in reply to India’s first innings 329 all out, a deficit of 283 runs, at lunch on the second day of the third Test.

Alastair Cook was 21 not out and Keaton Jennings 20 not out.

Cook edged Mohammed Shami’s first ball of England’s innings through the slips for four.

Fellow left-hander Jennings’s first ball, from the recalled Jasprit Bumrah, flew off the outside edge but through a gap in between the cordon and gully with India’s three slips standing inexplicably close together.

Rain delayed Sunday’s play by 30 minutes.

India resumed on 307 for six after Hardik Pandya had been dismissed by Anderson off the last ball of Saturday’s play as England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker became just the second bowler, following Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, to take 100 Test wickets against India.

There was little resistance from the lower order on Sunday, with India losing their last four wickets for 22 runs in 19 balls.

Test debutant Rishabh Pant had added just two runs to his overnight 22 when he dragged a Stuart Broad delivery onto his stumps.

Ravichandran Ashwin fell for 14 when Broad, on his Nottinghamshire home ground, uprooted the middle stump as the batsman aimed legside.

Anderson ended the innings with two wickets in two balls, Shami lobbing a catch to Broad at mid-on before the England paceman bowled last man Bumrah with a ball that angled into leg stump before hitting the top of middle.

That left Anderson on a hat-trick when he next bowls in this match.

The wicket also took Anderson, who had innings figures of three for 64, to 556 career Test wickets — just seven shy of Australia great McGrath’s tally of 563, the most by any pace bowler in Test cricket.

India, already 2-0 down in this five-match series, had been struggling at 82 for three after being sent into bat by England captain Joe Root on Saturday.

But a fourth-wicket stand of 159 between India captain Virat Kohli (97) and his deputy, Ajinkya Rahane (81) revived their innings. —AFP